IPCC SREX related news

The number of global fatalities could rise by as much as 200%... according to new research published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. But ambitious adaptation efforts in flood-prone countries could cut the potential economic costs by 96% and reduce global fatalities by 69%, say the scientists...

While few governments of developed nations are publically challenging the findings of the IPCC, it is concerning that they appear unwilling to get serious on financing adaptation. Promises to adapt to climate risks will amount to little more than puffery, if they are not backed up by significant investment, according Acclimatise...

The issue of transformational change is vital for ensuring effective adaptation. The climate change challenge is vast, and while adaptation efforts have increased over the past decade, there is the danger of too few small-scale adaptation interventions failing to protect the most vulnerable people...

Adaptation should not be seen as the 'politically easy' option when governments are dealing with climate change, warns a top UN official. Margareta Wahlström, the UN’s special representative for disaster risk reduction, said that the action required to prepare for the now inevitable impacts of a warmer world need to be 'drastic'...

'You want to do more than just cope with the hurricanes and cyclones and floods - you want to come out better at the other end', said Saleemul Huq, an IPCC coordinating leader author. 'To do that you have to make changes across societies and economies, not only in individual localities'...

Climate change has already had a powerful negative effect on agriculture and food security for the world’s most vulnerable, and that impact will get worse, according to agricultural experts responding to the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report...

Stronger links between business, academia and the public sector essential to thrive in a warming world, writes Mary Ritter, CEO of Climate-KIC for RTCC. It is vital that businesses, as well as local and national governments look beyond the sensational headlines to understand the real risks and opportunities presented by climate change...

'Climate-change adaptation is not an exotic agenda that has never been tried. Governments, firms,and communities around the world are building experience with adaptation,' Chris Field, Co-Chair of Working Group I said. 'This experience forms a starting point for bolder, more ambitious adaptations that will be important as climate and society continue to change'...

Fighting climate change effects could cost governments around the world over $100 billion a year, a United Nations panel of experts said in the newest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report...

The latest IPCC report detailing climate change impacts, adaptation and vulnerability predicts future food and water supply insecurities and calls for both mitigation and adaptation, reports the Guardian...

In an assessment of climate change risks for Australia and New Zealand, the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report warns that there will be 'increasing risks to coastal infrastructure and low-lying ecosystems in Australia and New Zealand, with widespread damage towards the upper end of projected sea-level-rise ranges'...

One of the messages emerging from the latest IPCC report is more positive: immense capacities exist to address rising risks - capacities that can be even more effective when applied with greater awareness and investment ahead of potential problems...

'Over the coming decades, climate change will have mostly negative impacts on cities and infrastructure, migration and security, ecosystems and species, crops and food security, public health, water supplies, and much more. We will see more ocean acidification and extreme droughts, floods and heatwaves. The poor and vulnerable will be most affected,'...

'The report clarifies that while people all over the world are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, the poor and marginalised are the most vulnerable. With this in mind, I believe that the world needs to respond with a climate justice approach'...

'All aspects of food security are potentially affected by climate change including food access, utilisation of land, and price stability,' said Aromar Revi, one of the lead authors of the report, adding that studies showed wheat and rice yields were decreasing due to climatic changes...

Many experts instead favour more frequent and targeted reports, for instance about droughts, floods and heatwaves in the preceding year, to see if climate change is influencing their frequency or severity...

A Reuters Institute study asked 'How do the media cover the uncertainties?', looking at how three IPCC reports and recent Arctic sea ice melt were covered in the print media in Australia, France, India, Norway, the UK and the USA. Whilst 82% of the articles featured a ‘disaster narrative’, only 26% of articles explaining the ‘explicit risks’ of different policy options were featured...

Disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation are increasingly being integrated, with growing focus on the impact of policies on infrastructure and people, and on building their resilience to face what might come their way, said Adaptation expert Saleemul Huq, one of the authors of the IPCC assessments...

Tom Mitchell, SREX lead author says that insurance, when combined with other risk-management measures like early warning systems, can provide valuable information to the vulnerable, better preparing them to weather disasters. But when insurance is the only means of reducing risk, it 'can convey a feeling of security while actually leaving people overly exposed to impacts'...

date: 18 January 2013 Source(s): Special Broadcasting Service Corporation (SBS)

Dr Scott Power, of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, coordinating lead author for the IPCC report told World News Australia that extreme temperatures, heatwaves and bushfires are typically part of Australian summers, but climate change is increasing the likelihood and intensity of such extremes...

'This Framework plan is about equipping agencies with the analysis and tools to help people to cope with and reduce the disruption to their lives from the impacts of climate change. It will help them to understand the changes required to enhance their quality of life, and help our economic recovery and takes account of changes to climate patterns, and extreme events,' said Minister Hogan...

The oceans are rising 60 per cent faster than the IPCC’s latest best estimates, according to a study now published in the journal Environmental Research Letters. “The new findings highlight that the IPCC is far from being alarmist and in fact in some cases rather underestimates possible risks,” said Stefan Rahmstorf...

In addition to October 2012 having been a big month for disaster resilience, it's also been a big year. While such profile is refreshing for those working to manage disaster risk, the reality is the future of disaster losses looks bleak, at least in the short-to-medium term, says ODI in a call for disaster resilience to become a priority for the post-2015 development agenda...

Nowhere in the world is the rising number of natural catastrophes more evident than in North America. The study shows a nearly quintupled number of weather-related loss events in North America for the past three decades...

Insurance has an important place in a comprehensive risk management strategy, which must focus on assessing and then reducing risk as a first priority, reports CDKN. It should then be considered as one component of a strategy designed to minimise the losses associated with the residual risks left after measures to reduce risks are in place...

'There is an intimate link between efforts to achieve sustainable development and those required to meet the climate change challenge. Sustainable development can reduce vulnerability to climate change, and climate change could impede nations' abilities to achieve sustainable development pathways,' says RK Pachauri...

'Children and young people have the right to information that is tailored to them. Even complex scientific reports should be converted to child and youth appropriate versions, if the information is likely to affect them,' said Amalia Fawcett, the author of the youth-friendly version and Plan Australia’s senior child rights specialist...

'The SREX report is a monumental achievement, but CDKN wanted to help policy-makers, media, businesses and civil society stakeholders to navigate this huge resource. That’s why we produced these regional guides which are easy to use, but preserve the careful scientific language of the original'...

'The most effective measures tend to be those that aid sustainable development, provide a diverse portfolio of options, and represent 'low regrets' strategies in the sense that they yield benefits across a wide range of climate futures,' stated Chris Field, co-chair of IPCC's Working Group II...

'Is this the time for a comprehensive and integrated body of disaster law to emerge in Australia rather than continuing to think that disaster laws are all about emergency responses?' asks Rosemary Lyster, Professor of Climate and Environmental Law at University of Sydney...

According to Chris Field, Co-Chair of the IPCC's Working Group II, 'The main message from the report is that we know enough to make good decisions about managing the risks of climate related disasters'...

'Our chapter was the only one by Working Group 1 in the report.' 'The main message is that there are already changes in extremes that we can observe. How sure we are with regard to these changes depends strongly on the considered extremes and regions,' said ETH-Zurich professor Sonia Seneviratne...

'The main message from the report is that we know enough to make good decisions about managing the risks of climate-related disasters. Sometimes we take advantage of this knowledge, but many times we do not,' said Chris Field, Co-Chair of IPCC’s Working Group II...

'Our growing experience of working with vulnerable communities to address climate change in 34 countries demonstrates the key role local communities, and women, play in adapting and strengthening resilience to climate change impacts'...

'This report will be important for the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action. One of its key strengths is that it assessed all the available literature across the relevant research areas and addressed the issues in a holistic way'...

'This summary for policymakers [of the Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX)] provides insights into how disaster risk management and adaptation may assist vulnerable communities to better cope with a changing climate in a world of inequalities'...

'The IPCC Special Report is a plea to governments worldwide to ensure that disaster risk reduction is at the heart of sustainable development during this century of climate change,' declared Margareta Wahlström...

'Rapid urbanization and the growth of megacities, especially in the developing countries, have led to the emergence of highly vulnerable urban communities, particularly through informal settlements'...

Climate scientists, disaster risk experts and meteorologists are gathering together to pore over the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX) in Uganda...

Call issued to Governments and Observer Organizations: the Special Report, to be undertaken following IPCC procedures and with the involvement of the UNISDR, is expected to be released in the second half of 2011. Deadline: 27 July 2009...

The Economist's overview highlights the IPCC report's warning about 'extreme weather events leading to breakdown of critical services such as electricity, water supply and health and emergency services'; a 'risk of severe ill-health and disrupted livelihoods for large urban populations due to inland flooding'; and 'the breakdown of food systems, linked to warming'...